Taberer is to become Five's head of entertainment, O'Connell has been appointed head of factual and Whittingham is moving to the broadcaster as head of production. All three will start their new Five jobs in the next few months.

Taberer is Sky1 commissioning editor for entertainment, O'Connell is commissioning editor for factual and stood in as acting controller following Woolfe's departure earlier this year and Whittingham is deputy director of production.

Woolfe, who became the controller of Five last month, is understood to have had a no-poaching agreement with his former employer. But as the new roles of head of entertainment and head of production roles were advertised, he was able to appoint Taberer and Whittingham. O'Connell was already understood to have been in talks to join Five before Woolfe arrived.

New Sky1 controller Stuart Murphy, who took up the role earlier this month, is said to be relaxed about the departures because it will give him a chance to bring in his own commissioning team.

In a note to staff, he paid tribute to the three commissioners, saying they had been "key to Sky1's growth over the past few years".

"As lots of you know, the emphasis at Sky1 is slightly changing," he said when the changes were announced. "While entertainment and drama remain key, we will be doing more features and – for the first time in a long while – comedy."

Woolfe said: "My vision is to put this channel on the map and with these three brilliant heads joining the programming team I believe we will make Five the destination channel it deserves to be.

"All three have tremendous track records in producing and commissioning award-winning series that grab the audience's attention and will ensure Five's programming is impossible to ignore."

Taberer, who commissioned shows including Noel's Christmas Presents and Hairspray: The School Musical while working with Woolfe at Sky1, added: "There's a huge opportunity to boost the Five entertainment offering and I can't wait to commission ambitious, noisy entertainment shows presented by major talent which attract big audiences."

O'Connell, who at Sky1 was responsible for Ross Kemp's award-winning factual series, said he wanted to build on Five's existing brands such as Extraordinary People.

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